Ohio River Valley
The '''Ohio River Valley '''State of the Junior State of America (ORV) officially became a state in 2005 under the leadership of Governor Senthu Arumugum. It includes Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Southeastern portion of Indiana. History In 1998, the Council of Governors accepted a petition from Lakota East named Operation Mitosis, dividing the Midwest into the Midwest State and the Ohio-Kentucky Region. A concentration of JSA schools developed in Cincinnati and Kentucky, making this change necessary. The Ohio Kentucky Region was renamed the Ohio River Valley Region after growth in Ohio. In 2003, it became the Ohio River Valley Territory, under the leadership of Governor Jessica Singleton. In order to become a territory, a region must reach certain levels of chapters and tax paid members; in order to become a state, they must reach a higher threshold. Slowly but surely, chapters started developing in areas further north, like Cincinnati. In Spring 2005, Governor Senthu Arumugum from Miamisburg led this former territory into statehood. From there, JSA symposia were held at OSU, which sparked the growth of more chapters in Ohio. While Ohio's chapters were rapidly expanding numerically, Kentucky's JSA infrastructure was shrinking. In 2006-07, the ORV hit its peak with 925 tax paid members under the leadership of both Governors Matt Migala and then Katlin Rust . Gradually the ORV lost size, but it was in 2010-11 that this decrease was most noticeable; the ORV shrunk by 38%. From the spring of 2011 through the spring of 2012, Governor Saayee Arumugum, brother of Senthu Arumugum, brought the ORV to be alive and well again, with a huge increase Needed in number of chapters. The current year of 2012 looks even brighter. Unprecedented growth has been experienced under Governor Jordan Dicken, partly due to the abolishment of regions and the creation of districts, and things are only getting better. Even if the base has shifted from Kentucky and Cincinnati up to Cincinnati and Columbus, the ORV continues to grow and spread JSA, so that all students can enjoy all that JSA is. In 1998, the Council of Governors accepted a petition from Lakota East named Operation Mitosis, dividing the Midwest into the Midwest State and the Ohio Kentucky Region. A concentration of JSA schools developed in Cincinnati and Kentucky, making this change necessary. The Ohio Kentucky Region was renamed the Ohio River Valley Region after growth in Ohio. In 2003, it became the Ohio River Valley Territory, under the leadership of Governor Jessica Singleton. In order to become a territory, a region must reach certain levels of chapters and tax paid members; in order to become a state, they must reach a higher threshold. Slowly but surely, chapters started developing in areas further north, like Cincinnati. In the spring of 2005, Governor Senthu Arumugum from Miamisburg lead this once territory into statehood. From there, JSA symposia were held at OSU, which sparked the growth of more chapters in Ohio. The Region System (2005-2011) From 2005 to 2011, the ORV used the region system, just like every other state. There were two regions, each with their own mayor and vice mayor, elected anually at Spring State. Terminology Originally, the southern half of the ORV was the Ohio Valley Region (OVR) and the northern half was the Great Lakes Region (GLD). Due to confusion between the OVR and the ORV abbreviation, it was later changed to the Miami-Shawnee Region. Mayor Mayors are the highest elected officers of a region. Their largest responsibility is hosting a Fall Regional and a Spring Regional every year. The level of involvement from mayor to Chapter President (CP) varies depending on who the presiding mayor was. Along with the vice mayors, the Lieutenant-Governor (LtG), and the Governor, the mayors helped make up the leadership team. Vice Mayor Vice mayors didn't have a defined role, other than aiding the mayors with region-specific tasks. The District System (2012-present) In 2012, the Arumugum-Lakomy amendment was ratified at Winter Congress by the Council of Chapter Presidents. It was the first amendment to the ORV constitution. The new amendment abolished the region system, to be replaced by a district system. This created four districts, the Great Lakes District (GLD), the Central Ohio District (COD), the Southwest District (SWD), and the Southern-Interior District (SID). The amendment also gave authority to the districts regarding chapter health and expansion, effectively eliminating those departments on the state level. Mayor The mayor is the highest elected official in the district, elected annually at Spring State. The district mayor is in charge of chapter health and expansion throughout the district. The mayor also has authority to appoint whomever (s)he would like to a district cabinet. Cabinet Positions The autonomy of the district cabinet is completely up to the district mayor. Small districts like the GLD and SID have a director of district affairs, while large districts like the COD and SWD have both an expansion assistant and a chapter health assistant. References Map of the Ohio River Valley State Ohio River Valley JSA Website Category:JSA States Category:Ohio River Valley